News

As of 2010, 1 in every 68 children aged 8 years had autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is up from 1 in 88 in 2008; 1 in 110 in 2006; and it’s up 123% from 2002 when 1 in every 150 children aged 8 years was diagnosed with ASD.

Using guidelines issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), about 1 in every 10 US children is at risk of vitamin D inadequacy and about 1 in 20 is at risk of deficiency, according to a new report. These figures are drastically lower than previous estimates.

Researchers have found areas of disruption in the brains of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), indicating that ASD originates sometime early in the prenatal period, according to a new small explorative study.

Preterm babies’ guts harbor bacteria that can cause late-onset sepsis, according to a new study.

Roberto Fernández Galán, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Neurosciences, at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, discusses his study on the "noisy brain" of children with autism with Karen Donley-Hayes.

Are 3, 5, or 10 days of antibiotics best? Israeli investigators set out to answer this question in a group of children aged 6 to 59 months with radiologically confirmed community-acquired alveolar pneumonia (CAAP) that did not require admission.

Detectable serum and salivary cotinine-a biomarker of tobacco exposure-is common among children admitted for asthma or bronchodilator-responsive wheezing and is associated with readmission, a study in asthmatic youngsters showed. Caregiver reports of secondhand smoke exposure do not appear to be significant predictors of hospital readmissions, however.

Audio recordings of 253 annual health maintenance visits of adolescent patients showed that in one-third of such visits, sexuality issues including sexual activity, dating, or sexual identity were not mentioned. Even in the visits that included some sexual content, the duration of the talk was brief-an average of 36 seconds.

Doxycycline (Doryx, Vibramycin) is the first choice antibiotic for Rocky Mountain spotted fever in children of all ages.

High school students who are sexual minorities are more likely to take risks that increase their chances of cancer than their heterosexual peers, almost across the board, according to an analysis of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS).

I am responding to Dr. Horst D. Weinberg’s thoughtful and well-elucidated letter to Contemporary Pediatrics (“Pediatrics, then and now”; Contemp Pediatr. 31[2[:10-12).

An autopsy is educational as one physician might inform another as to the cause of death. The practicing physician, then educated, would be able to explain to family members the exact cause of the demise. Once understood, treatment of future cases might even be modified. In an obituary, we learn about the deceased, but can only mourn.

Transition programs prepare adolescent patients for their transfer from pediatric to adult healthcare. Primary care physicians must incorporate sexual health self-management into transition planning for adolescents and young adults, but most especially for those with chronic illness or developmental disabilities.

There is growing evidence that nutrition may play a role in managing symptoms of autism in some children. Here is a look at the current research supporting these nutritional interventions.

“We know there is gender bias in neurodevelopmental disorders, ranging from autism to intellectual disability,” begins Bradley P. Coe, PhD, senior fellow, Eichler Lab, Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, and coauthor of a new study that may help explain the gender chasm.

Researchers across the country and around the globe are using a technology to explore what children’s vocalizations tell us about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other intellectual disabilities (IDs).

“It is well known that autism has a strong genetic component; that’s indisputable, but my interpretation [of this latest study] is that environmental insult also has a very strong effect.” The remark comes from Andrey Rzhetsky, PhD, Pritzker Scholar and professor of Genetic Medicine and Human Genetics at the University of Chicago, Illinois.

Although evidence suggests there are no consistent differences in prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) according to race or ethnicity, there is also abundant research demonstrating racial/ethnic disparities in the diagnosis of ASDs.

A 17-year-old white female is transferred from an outside hospital with the chief complaint being painful oral ulcers. Over the last 72 hours, the pain from her ulcers has progressively worsened, leading to the inability to speak or eat. She also has a diffuse papulopustular rash. There is an extensive family history of autoimmune disease, and she tested positive for mononucleosis 2 months prior to hospitalization.

Previous Peds v2.0 articles have discussed cutting-edge technologies for screening patients and for expediting diagnoses. The technologies that are just as important in the pediatric office practice are the many electronic devices we often take for granted. Here’s the scoop on the tech you need to run an efficient, modern pediatrics practice.

Contemporary Pediatrics was already a 4-year-old toddler in 1980 when autism was first listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the bible of US psychiatry.

Among the most vexing challenges of autism is its very diagnosis.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are etiologically complex. Evidence that the origin begins in utero has made maternal conditions as risk factors during pregnancy the focus of increasing research.

Rates of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant (G3CR) and extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae infections are on the rise in kids, in both inpatient and outpatient settings across the country, according to a new study.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the first drug to receive a Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher, a new FDA program that aims to encourage development of new drugs and biologics for the prevention and treatment of rare pediatric diseases by helping speed such agents to market.

Not everyone agrees that the obesity rate among our nation’s preschoolers is dropping, as we reported earlier this month.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently released another list of tests and treatments that you should think twice about before employing.

A pediatrician who is an expert on the effects of media on children-and who, not incidentally, helped write the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines on restricting media use by children aged younger than 2 years-says that 30 to 60 minutes per day spent using an iPad or similar device may be just fine for the age group.